Anafim - Connecting Communities

TBE perceives the land and people of Israel as extensions of our home and family. Through CJP's Boston/Haifa partnership, we are connected to the Leo Baeck Education Center with its congregation, Ohel Avraham. Through Anafim, a parent/teen learning and travel program with parents and teens from Leo Baeck, we are finding new ways to deepen our connections every year. Anafim (which means branches) seeks to deeply engage parents and teens from Temple Beth Elohim and the Leo Baeck Education Center and Ohel Avraham in Haifa Israel in a partnership that explores Jewish identity development, Jewish peoplehood and resiliency-building. The Anafim teen-parent program includes ongoing parallel and joint learning programs and two mifgashim (visits) (tentatively scheduled for Boston participants to visit Haifa in December 2018, and for Haifa participants to be hosted in Boston in Spring 2019). For more information about Anafim, contact Hannah Richman >>

"For our family - Anafim provided an opportunity to develop a more tangible root system to Israel, Jewish history and our faith. Each day provided new experiences and opportunities to reflect - netting in a broader, more informed perspective about both Israel and ourselves. Learning about Israel was enhanced tremendously by traveling and staying with Israeli families who offered real-world, local perspectives. Our friendships with the Israeli clergy, Israeli adults and teens will endure - we mutually seek for our families to remain as resources and homes across the ocean for each other! There is a “magic” about Anafim that many of us felt in our bones - and cannot quite put into words yet. ;) We are thankful to have had the opportunity!"- Heather & Dave, Parents

"I think Anafim was a particularly unique experience because of the group of people who went on the trip. While I'm lucky enough to have been to Israel with my family already and have also gone on other trips with groups of teenagers before, this is the first time that I went on a program that included multiple different families and teenagers. Because of the type of group, I got to hear from a variety of different perspectives and programs were rich with the opinions of many different types of people. I also found a wonderful balance between connecting with my own family about Judaism and enjoying myself with friends. The other part of the program that had a significant impact on me was the exchange aspect of it. While I know a lot about Israel factually, connecting with actual Israelis and learning about their experiences changed my connection to Israel from an educational one to an emotional and personal one. I formed incredible bonds with people and can't wait to go back!" - Danya, Age 15

"The learning was beyond my imagination: not only from our Jewish educators and from the amazing clergy at Ohel Avraham in Haifa, but, even more importantly, from each other. After every experience, we were asked thoughtful questions to help us process and share with each other what just happened. What happened to each of us, personally, during that activity or that visit. And, we did this while sitting in a group together, teens and adults, Americans and Israelis, together. A radical way to learn about ourselves and about each other and about being Jewish. And, at the risk of sounding sappy, truly magical." - Andrew, Parent

"I consider having the opportunity to participate in Anafim a tremendous gift for me and for my family. Connecting with both Israeli teens and adults and learning about the differences in how we experience living Jewishly, and also how similar we are as a People, has been truly powerful. Through this experience we also developed very special relationships with the other TBE families who participated in the program. They are our TBE Anafim Family. It was amazing to find such deep connections in such a short period of time. It was amazing to experience Israel in this way. This was my first trip to Israel and through the program I learned a tremendous amount about the country and was reminded in a very concrete way, how I am (and my family is) a proud link in long historical and cultural line. " - Karen, Parent